Big shoes to fill for Kimi Antonelli as youngest driver on the Formula 1 grid in 2025

Six rookies line up on the Formula 1 grid this season, among them we find the 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, as his full name goes, will be the youngest driver partaking in the sport this year. The teenager will partner up with multiple race winner George Russell at Mercedes, replacing 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who has joined Ferrari over the winter break. Debuting at such a young age with a team as big as Mercedes always arises high expectations. The driver from Bologna, however, so far does not seem to crumble under this pressure as he completed a stellar winter-test last week in Bahrain. So, what can we really expect from Mercedes’ new signing this season?

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, retrieved from Formula 1 on X.

Early career: parallels with the absolute greatest?

At age 13, Kimi Antonelli had already been picked up by the Mercedes Junior Team. Back then, the Italian was still driving around in karting championships. His open wheel racing debut would follow in 2021, completing three regional Formula 4 championships in Italy, Central Europe, and the UAE respectively. 2022 marked the start of an absolute rush through the junior ranks of open wheel racing for Antonelli, as he won the championships in both Italian Formula 4 and the ADAC Formula 4 championship which took place in Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands. This impressive run would continue in the first half of 2023, as the then 16-year-old Antonelli wrapped up titles in Formula Regional championships in the Middle East and Europe. These four titles were enough for Mercedes to push the Bologna driver through to Formula 2 for the 2024 season, skipping the international Formula 3 championship completely.  This move would unveil itself as quite convenient for the Brackley-based Formula 1 team, as Antonelli could gain enough super license points to drive in Formula 1 in 2025 through his participation in Formula 2 in 2024 (all Formula 1 drivers must meet some requirements and wrap up points towards their license through other racing classes before they can race in Formula 1, the super license therefore showcases entitlement to compete). This Formula 2 campaign with Prema, however, was not quite the success some might have expected it to be, as Antonelli won one sprint and one main race wrapping up 113 points towards a sixth place in the championship. Comparing this to other Formula 1 rookies on the grid, especially the likes of Bortoleto, for whom it was also his debut season in Formula 2, and Hadjar who finished in first and second in 2024, Antonelli’s campaign did not impose much. On a positive note, though, Prema was commonly known for struggles with setups of their cars due to new regulations.

The sheer speed with which Kimi Antonelli pushed through junior racing classes resembles to some extent the path of 4-time world champion in Formula 1, Max Verstappen. The Dutchman debuted in 2015 as youngest ever driver at age 17 in Formula 1 with the Toro Rosso Team, having skipped the Formula 2 championship completely. At age 18 he found himself in the Red Bull team winning his first Grand Prix, breaking the record for youngest race winner. Mercedes’ team boss Toto Wolff has always expressed his regrets of not signing Verstappen to his team, and when he announced Antonelli as Hamilton’s replacement he shared: "We had this 17-year-old [Antonelli] in the pipeline.” Illustrating the resemblance of the multiple world champion’s career and the Italian’s career so far Wolff continued: “I didn’t want to miss out on him like I did with Max back in the day. I didn’t have a car [for Verstappen]. so that is all falling into place, I didn’t want to do the decision, as Mercedes, letting the greatest champion ever go." Kimi Antonelli will be Formula 1’s third youngest driver ever, and might he win in Australia, Japan, or China he will pick up Max Verstappen’s record for youngest race winner.

What about Mercedes in 2025?

It is no secret that the once so dominant German team has not quite hit the nail on its head since the 2022 regulation changes. Coming off a run securing eight constructor’s titles in a row, they only managed five race wins in the past three years. Four of those, however, came about in 2024 marking an upward trend in performance. There is no doubt Mercedes will be expecting to fight up front in some races this year, but they might not be able to measure up against the McLaren team. During the three-day long winter-test last week in Sakhir, Bahrain, McLaren seemed to be the quickest team throughout their race simulations. Mercedes did complete most laps around the track out of any team, with Antonelli setting the quickest time in Wednesday’s morning session and Russell topping the timing sheets on Friday. The tests went by extremely smooth for Mercedes and Antonelli, which was quite the contrast to his first time testing during an official Formula 1 session in Monza last year as he shunted into the wall within ten minutes. Overall, Mercedes does not quite seem to have the strongest package out of the bunch, but they can be sure of a reliable car to build upon.

Antonelli during the Bahrain winter test, retrieved from Mercedes Benz Archive.

The Italian himself looked ahead to the 2025 season in Sakhir last week, touching upon the motorsport legend Lewis Hamilton whom he will replace: “I don’t find it right to say I’m his replacement, he has done so much in the sport, and I just feel like the next Mercedes driver, and I really want to make my own story.” Further exploring the pressure surrounding his Mercedes move he went on: “definitely, racing for Mercedes is a big responsibility because it’s obviously a top team, but at the same time it’s a great opportunity, it’s a privilege to be where I am today. I’m just trying to make the best out of this opportunity.”

With 6 rookies this year, fans of the sport might be in for an absolute treat in 2025. Having a teenager in one of the top-teams in Formula 1 will probably be one of the most exciting things to look forward to. Antonelli might well be at the forefront of a record-breaking year, though he himself takes a down to earth approach ahead of the season opener on March 16th in Australia, putting emphasis on learning and grasping the extraordinary opportunity he has been given by Toto Wolff.